Valve



V. L. DU BOIS June 20, 1939.

VALVE Filed Dec. 4, 1957 To provide for ease in adjustment of the valve 20 is formed with a tub shaft 22 which is adapt- Patented June 20, 1939 2 152 11 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VALVE Virgil L. Du Bois, Tulsa, Okla.

Application December 4, 1937, Serial No. 178,166

5 Claims. (Cl. 251-48) This invention relates to valves broadly and mounted thereon a pair of driving gears l6 and is particularly Concerned with gate valves of the H formed with hubs [Ea and Ila which are type wherein oppositely disposed expanding and maintained in spaced relation by a spacer l8. contracting valve discs are utilized and are ro- The outer end of the shaft H is provided with 5 tated as they are moved bodily into and from a handle it whereby the shaft may be manually closed positions with respect to their coacting rotated. valve seats so as to provide a self cleaning action. The valve assembly proper comprises valve Objects of the invention include: discs 29 and provided with teeth 26a. and Zia, To provide a valve of the type specified Wherethe latter being adapted to mesh with the rack 1 10 in the valve discs or closure members have an teeth ill and Illa. The discs 21! and 2| are prefequalized yet smooth and positive seating action; erably formed with smooth fiat seating faces To provide in a valve of this type means whereor surfaces, and said surfaces may be formed of by a quick valve action may be had with a maxiany suitable, preferably non-corrosive and wear mum of valve-actuating leverage; resistant, metal or metal alloy. The valve disc discs as well as ease in removal and replacement ed to journal in a socket 23 formed on an extethereof; riorly threaded hub 24, the latter in turn being To generally simplify improve valves of this formed as part of the valve disc 2|. type. A spreader member in the form of an inte- The foregoing and other objects and advanriorly threaded ring or collar is provided and 20 tages will become apparent in view of the fol-g has formedintegral therewith or connected therelowing description taken in conjunction with the to a forked yoke 26 adapted to engage over the drawing, wherein: spreader l8 and the adjacent hubs lfia and Ha Fig. l is a view in end elevation of a valve of the gears 15 and H. The hub 24 of the valve 25 unit embodying the features of the present invendisc 2! is rotatably threaded into the ring or 26 tion; collar 25 so that when the latter is rotated rela- Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken subtive movement is set up between the ring 25 stantially centrally of the valve unit; and said disc;

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially on the To limit the throw of the handle l9 and con- 30 line 3-45, Fig. 2; and, sequently the bodily arcuate travel of the valve 30 Fig. 4 is a disassembled view, partly in section, discs 28 and 2|, an adjustable contact screw 21 of the interior valve mechanism. is provided and is threaded through a bracket The valve housing is generally indicated at 5 28 and locked in position by means of lock and is provided with a detachable cover 6 which nut 29.

may be secured in position by screw bolts 1. The The improved valve unit is adapted for high 35 opposite ends of the housing are formed with pressure duty, S h as Oil lines and k sta annular bosses 8 and 8a. which define substanlations where self cleaning valves of this type tially coaxial passages 9 and 9a, the bosses 8 and may be used to advantage. Fig. '2 shows the to being adapted for connection into a pipe line valve in open position with the valve discs 20 0 or analogous fluid or air line in which the valve and 2i moved arcuately to the end of the rack 40 unit is to be inserted for controlling the pasteeth It] and ltd, further movement being prosage of fluid through the line. hibited by the adjustable stop 21. To close the The valve housing 5 is provided with an arcuvalve, it is only necessary to rotate the handle ate shaped portion, on the interior of which par- I9 to the left to the position shown in Fig. 1.

allel lines of rack teeth It! and Illa are formed, When the shaft II is rotated, it in turn rotates 45 note Figs. 2 and. 3. gears l5 and IT which are in mesh with the teeth A shaft II is rotatab-ly mounted in the valve 200. and Zla of the valve discs 20 and 2|. Rotahousing and has its one end inserted in a beartion of said gears moves the said discs bodily in ing recess l2 and its opposite free or handle end an arcuate path to closed position over the ports projecting through a journal box or bearing l3 or passages 9 and 9a. During this arcuate travel, 50 having a packing gland i5 therein, the bearing t p a ring or collar 25 s us o tu n. l3 being removably threaded into aboss 15 formed thereby moving the ring and yolk laterally, the on the valve housing. said ring abutting against the inner side of the That portion of the shaft H which lies within disc 20 and causing the discs 20 and 2i to be the housing 5 is preferably squared and has Spread and clamped firmly against the inner 5 valve seats as they are moved into valve closing position.

Due to the fact that the stub shaft 22 is permitted a limited floating action in the socket 23, and further due to the floating action of the yolk 26 on the spreader l8 and the adjacent hubs of the gears l6 and H, the valve discs 20 and 2| are in turn permitted a limited floating action during the closing and opening movements of the valve so that a self-equalizing and yet positive closing movement of the valve discs is effected. Furthermore, the shaft H and coacting yolk arrangement permits a relatively short throw in closing and opening the valve, so that a lever handle of the type indicated at 19 may be utilized. This is of advantage, since it is highly desirable to provide a quick acting valve in certain installations.

To adjust the lateral expanded movement of the valve discs, it is only necessary to remove the cover '6 and adjust the stop 27 so that the teeth 20a, and Zia of the valve discs 20 and 2| will move free of the rack teeth Ill and Illa, whereupon the disc 2| may be given a partial turn in the collar 25, thereby either advancing or retracting the spreading action due to the collar 25 and yolk connection 25, In a like manner, the valve discs and coactin-g parts may be removed from the valve housing and replaced whenever desired.

It will be noted that the mechanism is relatively simple in construction, since there are no fine tolerances and all parts may be cast and assembled in an expeditious manner.

It will be understood that certain changes in construction and design may be adapted Within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

I. In a valve of the type described, a valve housing having substantially aligned inlet and outlet ports, opposed relatively-axially-movable toothed valve discs mounted for simultaneous rotary and bodily arcuate movement toclose and open said ports, a rotatable valve-actuating shaft mounted in said housing, drive gears mounted on said shaft in mesh with the teeth of said discs, a toothed drive rack in said housing also in mesh with the teeth of said discs, and an expanding and contracting member in the form of a threaded collar mounted between .said discs and provided with a yoke member having an auxiliary movable connection with said shaft whereby the collar is held against rotation yet is permitted to move axially between said discs.

2. In a valve of the type described, a valve housing having substantially aligned inlet and outlet ports, opposed relatively-axially-movable toothed valve discs, a toothed rack with which the teeth of the valve discs engage whereby the discs are caused to rotate during bodily movement of the discs, a valve-actuating shaft, drive gears mounted on said shaft in mesh with the teeth of said discs, and a spreader member for said valve discs, said member having a threaded hub connection with at least one of said discs having a yoke portion straddling said shaft, but permitting free relative rotary and axial movement between the yoke and shaft.

v3. In a valve of the type described, a valve housing having substantially aligned inlet and outlet ports, opposed relatively-axially-movable toothed valve discs, a toothed rack with which the teeth of said discs engage whereby the discs are caused to rotate during bodily movement thereof, one of said discs having an exteriorly threaded socket hub and the other of said discs being provided with a stub shaft projecting into the socket formed in said hub, a valve actuating shaft, drive gears mounted on said shaft and having teeth meshed with the teeth of said discs, and a valve-disc-expanding member comprising a collar which is threaded on said hub member and is formed with a yoke portion which straddles said shaft with the shaft freely rotatable with respect to the yoke and the latter having limited axial movement on the shaft whereby the collar is held against rotation with respect to said hub while at the same time being permitted limited axial travel with respect to said discs.

4. In a valve of the type described, a valve housing having substantially aligned inlet and outlet ports, the housing being formed with an arcuate shaped portion having toothed racks on the interior thereof, a pair of axially-opposed toothed valve discs, a valve actuating shaft rotatably mounted in said housing, drive gears mounted on said shaft and meshed with the teeth of said discs, an expanding member operatively connected between said discs and having a yoke straddling said shaft, a handle connnected to said shaft, and an adjustable stop for said handle.

5. In a valve of the type described, a valve housing having inlet and outlet ports, said housing being formed with an opening and an arcu ate shaped portion having an interiorly toothed rack formed thereon, valve discs having teeth meshed with said rack, a rotatable valve actuating shaft mounted in said housing, drive gears mounted on said shaft having teeth meshed with the teeth of said discs, said discs being removable through said opening upon being rotated beyond open position and free of mesh with said rack, and a removable cover for said openin-g.

VIRGIL L. DU B015. 

